The רמב״ם is telling us that the הגדה ’s core is that which is quoted in the משנה. The text of עבדים היינו is the basic answer and baseline חיוב of והגדת . At its core, the מצוה is to relate the transition from slavery to freedom. There is no theology here. For the child, he’s too young to understand this. But he can understand slavery. This is before we talk about the affliction. But, ultimately, what’s the primary theme? What’s the aim in all of this? For the רמב״ם , the ultimate goal of this discussion is to end up talking about the transition from paganism to monotheism. Although the sequence in the Mishna starts with עבדים היינו , the רמב״ם emphasizes מתחילה עובדי עבודה זרה first because that’s the עיקר theme. He’s underlining this goal. How does the רמב״ם know this? It’s a פסוק in בא אל פרעה כי אני הכבדתי לבו ואת לב עבדיו !חומש למען שתי אותותי אליך בקרבו ולמען תספר באזני בנך ובן בנך את…וידעתם כי אני ה׳ . That’s the goal! This is the thinking represented in the מכילתא דרשב״י . When the מכילתא quotes the פסוקים of כי ישאלך this is the connection. The reintroduction to the story of Exodus reconnects us to the values and philosophy of monotheism. It justifies why we do what we do. It’s because of that event we know G-d. ה׳ tells the Jews אנכי ה׳…אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים . It doesn’t say “ אשר ברא שמים וארץ .” You weren’t there. But you were there in Egypt. Although we use the נוסח of the הגדה , in הלכה the רמב״ם is highlighting the primary theme and goal of this event is like the מכילתא דרשב״י explains. It’s the transition from paganism to monotheism. To discuss and teach this, you have to understand what paganism is.
It was very clear that no one actually though that clay dolls were the creators of existence. The idea of a world that always was is more modern from Greece. Rather they envisioned a kings court with noble man. They understood that the lords were independent forces that were empowered by the great king. They didn’t want to live with the king, with the boss. It is easier to live with the noblemen who have lower standards and would "allow them to do what they want". They wouldn't want a relationship with the king because it would make them feel small. They ran away from a demanding and overwhelming G-d. They decided to honor the nobleman and through them indirectly honor the king. They wanted to have a relationship with a celestial entity that was less demanding and would allow them to be themselves.
To tell this story and internalize it, you need to understand what it means to go from the גנות and be redeemed לשבח . Let’s understand what happened to כלל ישראל while they were in Egypt. The רמב״ם in ( הלכות עבודה זרה (א:ב writes:
כיון שנגמל איתן זה התחיל לשוטט בדעתו והוא קטן והתחיל לחשוב ביום ובלילה והיה תמיה היאך אפשר שיהיה הגלגל הזה נוהג תמיד ולא יהיה לו מנהיג ומי יסבב אותו, כי אי אפשר שיסבב את עצמו, ולא היה לו מלמד ולא מודיע דבר אלא מושקע באור כשדים בין עובדי כוכבים הטפשים ואביו ואמו וכל העם עובדי כוכבים והוא עובד עמהם ולבו משוטט ומבין עד שהשיג דרך האמת והבין קו הצדק מתבונתו הנכונה, וידע שיש שם אלוק אחד והוא מנהיג הגלגל והוא ברא הכל ואין בכל הנמצא אלוק חוץ ממנו, וידע שכל העולם טועים ודבר שגרם להם לטעות זה שעובדים את הכוכבים ואת הצורות עד שאבד האמת מדעתם, ב ובן ארבעים שנה הכיר אברהם את בוראו, כיון שהכיר וידע התחיל להשיב תשובות על בני אור כשדים ולערוך דין עמהם ולומר שאין זו דרך האמת שאתם הולכים בה ושיבר הצלמים והתחיל להודיע לעם שאין ראוי לעבוד אלא לאלוק העולם ולו ראוי להשתחוות להקריב ולנסך כדי שיכירוהו כל הברואים הבאים, וראוי לאבד ולשבר כל הצורות כדי שלא יטעו בהן כל העם כמו אלו שהם מדמים שאין שם אלוק אלא אלו. כיון שגבר עליהם בראיותיו בקש המלך להורגו ונעשה לו נס ויצא לחרן, והתחיל לעמוד ולקרוא בקול גדול לכל העולם ולהודיעם שיש שם אלוק אחד לכל העולם ולו ראוי לעבוד, והיה מהלך וקורא ומקבץ העם מעיר לעיר ומממלכה לממלכה עד שהגיע לארץ כנען והוא קורא שנאמר ויקרא שם בשם ה' אל עולם, וכיון שהיו העם מתקבצין אליו ושואלין לו על דבריו היה מודיע לכל אחד ואחד כפי דעתו עד שיחזירהו לדרך האמת עד שנתקבצו אליו אלפים ורבבות והם אנשי בית אברהם ושתל בלבם העיקר הגדול הזה וחבר בו ספרים והודיעו ליצחק בנו, וישב יצחק מלמד ומזהיר, ויצחק הודיע ליעקב ומינהו ללמד וישב מלמד ומחזיק כל הנלוים אליו, ויעקב אבינו למד בניו כולם והבדיל לוי ומינהו ראש והושיבו בישיבהללמד דרך השם ולשמור מצות אברהם, וצוה את בניו שלא יפסיקו מבני לוי ממונה אחר ממונה כדי שלא תשכח הלמוד, והיה הדבר הולך ומתגבר בבני יעקב ובנלוים עליהם ונעשית בעולם אומה שהיא יודעת את ה', עד שארכו הימים לישראל במצרים וחזרו ללמוד מעשיהן ולעבוד כוכבים כמותן חוץ משבט לוי שעמד במצותאבות, ומעולם לא עבד שבט לוי עבודת כוכבים, וכמעט קט היה העיקר ששתל ברהם נעקר וחוזרין בני יעקב לטעות העולם ותעיותן, ומאהבת ה' אותנו ומשמרו את השבועה לאברהם אבינו עשה משה רבינו רבן של כל הנביאים ושלחו, כיון שנתנבא משה רבינו ובחר ה' ישראל לנחלה הכתירן במצות והודיעם דרך עבודתו ומה יהיה משפט עבודת כוכבים וכל הטועים אחריה.
When אברהם was around, monotheism was being re-invigorated. He led the revolution. People would get together and ask him all their theological questions. He was “Mr. אברהם ”.קירוב passed this tradition on to יצחק to teach and warn the people about G-d. This continued to the next generation a well. The movement grew and grew and a nation developed. This was the .בית אברהם יעקב , preparing to pass the baton on, appointed לוי to lead the movement forward. Then something happened. The Jews went down to מצרים and everyone, except for שבט לוי who kept the tradition going, reverted to paganism. Do the math. Out of the entire nation, שבט לוי was a total of .96% of the Jewish population, and that was only a small percentage of the 20% of the people who left Egypt. Convert that fivefold and you’ll find an even smaller percent of Jews who actually believed in monotheism while in Egypt, around .007% of Jews! The loss to monotheism was immense. There was mass assimilation going on in מצרים . It was a חורבן . We fell to the point that our people and the local Egyptian peasantry were the same. They served idols. We served idols. The רמב״ם writes that if G-d didn’t take the Jews out then, it would have been too late to get them out. Monotheism would have died then. It was that close. That’s the מצב of כלל ישראל before יציאת מצרים . The world, after so much upward progress, was about to plunge back into paganism. The revolution of אברהם אבינו was over. Thankfully, הקב״ה took us out via .משה רבנו Through him we were redeemed. The Jew of Egypt was pagan. Why do you think over 80% of the population didn’t make it out? Four-fifths died there because they were not even redeemable. They didn’t even have their ethnic identity. They simply forgot they were Jewish. In other words, the fifth who left Egypt were in fact pagan. But their redeeming factor was their adherence to their ethnic identity. They didn’t change their names, dress etc. It’s like someone still calling himself Mr. Goldberg or still eating knishes at the kosher stand. They spoke their home tongue and not Egyptian, speaking mainly Hebrew, a Canaanite dialect. They also liked the Canaanite fashion styles over that of the Egyptian style. Though there was no religious identity, at least there was an ethnic one. At this point, G-d had the ability to end it. He could’ve said, “OK, I experimented with homo sapiens and he failed. Let’s close shop.” For whatever reason, He didn’t.
הקב״ה says to יחזקאל “I let My Self known prior to יציאת מצרים , and I told them ‘I am your G-d.’ I want to reintroduce My Self through אהרן הנביא .” G-d wanted us out of Egypt and bring us to ארץ ישראל . But there was one caveat. Drop the idols. Don’t pollute yourself with the ע״ז of מצרים . It is I Who is your G-d. But they didn’t listen to Him. They still wanted to be pagan. “We’re Egyptian, weren’t not interested in changing our religion. We’re not interested in leaving the country.”
Now this is really interesting because, after all, they were slaves. Why would they want to stay? You have to understand what life was in Egypt for the Israelite then. The first society which introduced the feudal system to humanity was Egypt. This was actually initiated by nonother than Yosef. Basically, the crown owned all the lands except for the church. Everyone else became a serf to the state. You worked for the Pharaoh. You didn’t own your land. Yosef even moved everyone around to create an environment of servitude. Most of Egypt was in this situation. The typical Egyptian was poor. Think of serfdom in Europe. The typical Egyptian was a nebach. His friend, the Hebrew, who probably intermarried and attended the same house of worship his Egyptian counterpart, lived adjacent to him. The Hebrew slave was in so many ways exactly like his friend, the Egyptian. The only difference was that some of them retained an antiquated, ethnic identity. So, when G-d tells the Jews, “I’m going to take you out and you’re going to serve Me believe in monotheism,” they just ignored it. The Americans tried to do this as
well a century ago. Wanting to rectify the acts of kidnapping African slaves to the colonies to be sold as slaves for so many years, the government wanted to send them back. They actually created a country called Liberia for them. It didn’t work. They would rather be slaves in Virginia than go back there. The African American said, “I live here. I grew up here. This is my culture. I’m an American. This is who I am.” That’s the same reaction the Jews had to G-d. How could You tell us to drop everything? No way! Unfortunately, that was the reality for many Jews. If you look at it carefully, the typical Jew was Egyptian. 4/5th of the them were totally assimilated. The rest at
least kept some remnant of Jewish culture. But no one was monotheistic except for לוי . If you want to understand מתחילה עובדי עבודה זרה היו אבותינו , this פרק in יחזקאל is cardinal. G-d responds, “I’m going to destroy you.” Why? It’s simple. G-d created a world for a purpose. He wants man to recognize Him and submit to Him. If it wasn’t going to work, it’s not worth it. I don’t need it. The לשֶם underlines this is the crisis of the time. לכאורה , the test of man
succeeding through free will has failed. So, why didn’t He do it? ועשת למען שמי . It would have been bad for G-d’s PR. The world was created for man to recognize G-d and if the Jews would have been killed, the Egyptians would
say that G-d, ח״ו , can’t take the Jews out. He destroyed them because He couldn’t do it. This is exactly what משה רבנו tells הקב״ה after the למה יאמרו הגויים ברעה הוציאם .עגל . It would have been a חילול ה׳ to kill the Jews. The רמב״ן in האזינו expands this exact point. The point of creation is to create Homo Sapien who, through rising through challenges and free will, will encounter, engage, and accept monotheism. He will live, breathe, and talk its values. All of תורה ומצוות and overall creation is made for man to לדעת אותו and be מודה to Him. הודאה is not just saying thank you. It means admission, as in the term מודה במקצת . When you thank someone you admit that you are
dependent on them. When you are מודה to G-d, you are acknowledging that you are totally living with the understanding that you are the created form of the Infinite Creator. You are dependent on Him. You are nothing without Him. That’s the goal of humanity and creation. It’s this recognition. So, the רמב״ן says, humanity failed. אברהם , all by himself, brought humanity back on its feet and started to create a revolution known as monotheism. Then it tanked again. We were in Egypt. Then He reintroduced Himself. G-d wants a means to facilitate His agenda of creating a reality of a society, a world who leads, breathes, walks and talks a life of G-d awareness. He needs
a nation which embodies all those values. He needs a people who live the story of Egypt and the story of Sinai. Without a body like this, Sinai will be relegated to the halls of mythology. Then, nothing will happen. Do you think Roman mythology really influenced mankind? You think Homer’s Iliad changed society? No, it didn’t. The same thing would’ve happened to the story of the Israelites if a nation was not made. The story would stop impacting humanity and humanity will not have the chance to actualize the goal of שידעה האדם שהק-ל בוראו ויודה לו . That’s the point of having a nation like כלל ישראל . It’s an extremely powerful source of ריבוי כבוד שמים on this
planet. Destroying them would be a חילול ה׳ . G-d tells Moshe סלחתי כדבריך , “I forgive them exactly like you argued. You’re right. I want them to facilitate My agenda.” They’re worth total annihilation. But if it’s an option of closing the door on history or continuing with them with the chance of attaining this goal, let them live on. That’s why we’re here today. That’s really the essence of what תשובה is. That’s ועשת למען שמי . The reason I didn’t destroy them in Egypt was because I did it for My name. The פרק continues with G-d telling the prophet about how He took us out of מצרים and educated us. “Not only did I give them the laws of Sinai, I gave them the laws of שבת as a sign to
know that I am G-d.” Out of all the מצוות given to us, שבת is the unique אות of our covenantal relationship with G-d. We are connected to the monotheistic G-d who sanctified us. After this event, they still didn’t listen. They violated Shabbos. Of the major violations mentioned here, it’s interestingly that we don’t find חילול שבת ועבודה זרה mentioned the חומש . G-d again wanted to destroy them. But again, He spared them למען שמו . When you learn the פרשת מרגלים , don’t think it’s just those few who were bad. יחזקאל fills in some more details for us. A lot of the Jews were still not such great צדיקים . It was עבודה זרה and חילול שבת which were the real issues and this
happens after 40 .מתן תורה years later, G-d tells the next generation, “Don’t act like your fathers have. Don’t perform idol worshipping as they have.” These Jews were still attached to their Egyptian culture. This continues throughout the period of the Jewish settlement of the land. Finally, after hundreds of years of sinning, G-d sends the Jews into גלות . You still acted like the Egyptians. G-d did everything for them, but nothing changed. They didn’t want to keep שבת because it was a symbol of walking away from paganism, having a covenantal relationship with G-d. They were not interested in it. גילולי מצרים בלבם . This went on for a long time, just read ספר
מלכים . The battle for monotheism was and is very much an uphill battle. However, the כלל is that ultimately it works. It took a lot to extract them, theologically and culturally, from Egypt. But it worked. It’s very clear that in this context, the מכות played a major role in taking us out, not just physically, but also theologically from this paganist culture.
